Crossrail
Whitechapel
London Luton Airport DART
Construction continues on the new people mover system that runs from Luton Airport Parkway station (on the Midland Mainline) to the main terminal building. Opening is pencilled in for 2022 which would mean terminal-to-St Pancras journey times of 30 minutes.
Images sourced Paul Baralos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/baralos1973
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Network Rail Route Studies
Every so often, Network Rail (the government-owned manager of the majority of the UK’s heavy rail network) undertakes studies to ascertain the current and future use of the railway. As a result, Network Rail are able to put forward solutions to secure funding; these can range from simple level crossing closures to new tunnels, grade separation and other more intensive engineering works.
Oxfordshire Rail Corridor Study
Oxford is less than an hour from Central London, and is by its own right an important city, especially in the knowledge economy and the companies that are spun off the research undertaken at the university. As a growing city and important junction for a variety of routes heading westwards, and the construction of the East West Rail to Cambridge, the station and corridor are in need of expansion work to manage with higher frequencies and passenger volumes.
Images sourced from Network Rail: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-con...dor-Study-.pdf + https://www.networkrail.co.uk/runnin...rridor-phase-2
South West Main Line Strategic Study
In a highly focused study, Network Rail have looking at how the South West Main Line (SWML) will cope with future demand, specifically on the Up Fast (UF) line between London Waterloo and Woking which is used by long-distance and outer suburban services. The existing UF operates at 24tph which for a non-automated commuter railway is the absolute maximum possible on existing infrastructure. This setup however comes with a cost: minor deterioration on just a single service impacts all other services for a prolonged period.
Crossrail 2 – if built – would see the SWML increase to 6-tracks, diverting most inner suburban surfaces onto the new tracks and drastically increasing SWML capacity. However, considering the uncertainty of whether Crossrail 2, Network Rail have planned for scenarios where it is/isn’t built. In principle, Network Rail are seeking to reduce existing headways from 150 seconds (24tph) on the UF to as little as
81 seconds (44tph) which to my knowledge is beyond most modern metro systems in line frequency.
Network Rail’s recommendations are:
- Build Crossrail 2
- Deploy European Train Control System (ETCS) automated train control to deliver up to 44tph per track
- Remodelling of the track between London Waterloo and Clapham Yard for non-revenue stock movements, including various options of rebuilding Queenstown Road station to avoid conflict with SWML UF, Up Slow and Windsor Line services
- A new flyover between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction to avoid conflicts at the throat to London Waterloo
- Grade separation of the SWML and the Portsmouth Direct Line to the west of Woking, as well as new platforms at Woking to handle more services
Images sourced from Network Rail: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-con...egic-Study.pdf
Essex Thameside Route Study
The Essex Thameside Route is focused on the London, Tilbury and Southend Line (LTSL) which consists of a main line (and two branches) out of London Fenchurch Street. The LTSL is one of the most intensely used commuter lines in the UK which creates numerous capacity issues specifically at the following three stations:
- Barking, interchange with the Underground (District and Hammersmith & City Lines) and Overground (Gospel Oak to Barking Line), with lots of interchange traffic on the overbridge
- West Ham, interchange with the Underground (Jubilee Line) and DLR (Stratford International), constricted station site and island platform
- London Fenchurch Street, terminus in the City with just four platforms (the highest train per platform utilisation of any terminus in the UK), there are plans to massively increase concourse capacity, but it would struggle with future
Another major restriction on expansion is that the line is predominantly two-track and the LTSL corridor is expected to see population growth of 30% as redundant industrial land is redeveloped into mixed use sites (e.g Purfleet-on-Thames). Between West Ham and Upminster, the LTSL in effect operates as an express train for the two Underground lines which run parallel, so more tracks is an unlikely proposition.
Going forward, due to the constrained nature of the line, there are realistically three options available, with an end-goal of up to 30tph:
- Converting the route to automated operation using European Train Control System (ETCS) to enable north of 24tph
- Lengthening of trains (all trains running at 12-carriages)
- High standing density (i.e. metro-like) rolling stock
A variety of works will be required, most notably the introduction of ETCS, with the biggest station upgrades occurring at West Ham and Barking stations. London Fenchurch St however could be relocated and dramatically expanded to cope with the demand, I’ll revert back to that separate project below.
Images sourced from Network Rail: https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob...de%20Study.pdf
Great Eastern Main Line Route Study
The mainline heading out of London Liverpool Street, the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) serves the Eastern region north-east of London, principally by Greater Anglia services. To-date, focus has been on Crossrail (which will serve all stations between Liverpool St and Shenfield, reducing journey times (the Norwich in 90mins project), and a complete overhaul of rolling stock (refer back to an earlier post on Greater Anglia’s new rolling stock).
From Liverpool St, the line is four-track up to Shenfield (where the Shenfield to Southend Line branches off), with the rest of the line being two-track. Even with the aforementioned upgrades, Network Rail envision the GEML up to Colchester (83km north-east down line from Liverpool St) to experience severe capacity issues in the next few years, with capacity issues spreading to other parts of the GEML in the next decade.
To remedy this, Network Rail would include remodelling the tracks to the west of Stratford, 3 or 4-tracking the line from Shenfield to Chelmsford and Ipswich to Haughley Junction, as well as additional passing loops between Chelmsford and Colchester.
On a side note, Stratford which is one of the most important interchanges and one of the busiest stations in London (126mn journeys in 2019) is struggling to cope with daily pressures, with forecasts envisioning the number of entries and exits rising by a further 55mn by 2031. The existing station is rather disjointed and confusing, so 5th Studios have been awarded a contract to see how the station could be rebuilt (much in the vein of London Bridge or Kings Cross St Pancras).
Images sourced from Network Rail: https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob...udy%202019.pdf
East West Rail
Ongoing work to reinstate the old Varsity Line which ran from Oxford to Cambridge. Once complete it will create a new orbital route connecting the Cherwell Valley Line (at Oxford), West Coast Main Line (at Bletchley), Midland Main Line (at Bedford), East Coast Main Line (at St Neots) and the West Anglia Main Line (at Cambridge). The first phase from Oxford to Bedford is due to open in 2023 with the second phase on to Cambridge due sometime after 2025.
Images sourced from [B[East West Rail Progress[/B]: https://twitter.com/progresseast?lang=en
Bletchley Flyover
Images taken by Phil Marsh: https://twitter.com/Marshrail/status...13554260279299
London Fenchurch Street Station
As noted above in the Essex Thameside Route Study, one of the plans being considered for Fenchurch St is to close the existing terminus and relocate to a new six-platform site opposite the Tower of London. The Weston Williamson + Partners study envisions a new station that provides interchange with the Underground (Circle and District Lines) and opening up land for redevelopment. The project would also incorporate an aspiration of Transport for London to replace the existing Tower Gateway DLR terminus and merge with the Bank DLR branch to create a more intense service. The existing viaduct to Fenchurch St would be converted into a pedestrian walkway with over-station development.
Images sourced from Weston Williamson + Partners: https://www.westonwilliamson.com/pro...ion-masterplan
Stanford-le-Hope Station
The existing Stanford-le-Hope station (on the Tilbury Loop Line), is 44km due east of London Fenchurch Street and due to be redeveloped to create a comprehensive transport interchange.
Images sources from Thurrock Council: https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/stanford...anford-le-hope
Purfleet-on-Thames Station
Purfleet (to be renamed Purfleet-on-Thames) is a rather forgotten part of Thames river frontage that was dominated by heavy industry and logistics warehouses. It is – like Stanford-le-Hope mentioned above – located on the Tilbury Loop due east of London Fenchurch Street and is seen as a growth area. The local authority intend to redevelop 140 acres to deliver 3,000 new homes, new industrial space, and new film & TV production studio. To facilitate this, the existing station will be relocated to the south-east with the existing level crossing removed and the road redirected over a new bridge.
Image sourced from Our Purfleet: https://twitter.com/OurPurfleet
Reigate Station
Reigate is located on a spur off the Brighton Main Line and on the North Downs Line (a west-to-east line orbital line between Reading and Redhill). Network Rail are proposing rebuilding the station to handle 12-car Thameslink trains. Rebuilding Croydon further up the line would enable higher frequencies into London.
Images sourced from Network Rail: https://consultations.networkrail.co...eigate-station
East Coast Main Line Upgrade
The tracks on the approach to London King’s Cross have now been built enabling use of the third Canal Tunnel to be utilised. In other news, track work on the Werrington dive-under is also progressing well.
Images sourced from ECML Upgrade on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ECMLupgrade
GOBLIN Extension – Barking Riverside
Continued progress on the Overground extension from Barking to Barking Riverside
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